The principle of superposition may be applied to waves whenever two (or more) waves travelling through the same

medium at the same time. The waves pass through each other without being disturbed. The net displacement of the medium at any point in space or time, is simply the sum of the individual wave displacements. This is true of waves which are finite in length (wave pulses) or which are continuous sine waves.

 When two Gaussian wave pulses are travelling in the same medium, one is moving to the right, the other is moving to the left. The two waves pass through each other without being disturbed, and the net displacement is the sum of the two individual displacements.
Non-dispersive all frequencies travel at the same speed; wave pulses do not change their shape as they propagate. Dispersive waves would change their shape.

Solitions - examples of nonlinear waves that do not obey the principle of superposition when they interact with each other.

 When the two waves are in-phase (phi=0), they interfere constructively and the result has twice the amplitude of the individual waves.  When the two waves have opposite-phase (phi=180), they interfere destructively and cancel each other out. The phase difference between the two waves increases with time so that the effects of both constructive and destructive interference may be seen. When the two individual waves are exactly in phase the result is large amplitude. When the two gray waves become exactly out of phase the sum wave is zero.

 A travelling wave moves from one place to another  A standing wave appears to stand still, vibrating in place.  Two waves (with the same amplitude, frequency, and wavelength) are travelling in opposite directions on a string. Using the principle of superposition, the resulting string displacement may be written as:

Characteristic of standing waves are locations with maximum displacement (antinodes) and locations with zero displacement (nodes).

 If two sinusoidal waves having the same frequency (and wavelength) and the same amplitude are travelling in opposite directions in the same medium then, using superposition, the net displacement of the medium is the sum of the two waves. As the two waves pass through each other, the net result alternates between zero and some maximum amplitude. However, this pattern simply oscillates; it does not travel to the right or the left, and thus it is called a "standing wave".

 Two waves of equal amplitude are travelling in the same direction. The two waves have different frequencies and wavelengths, but they both travel with the same wave speed. Using the principle of superposition, the resulting particle displacement may be written as:

 This resulting particle motion is the product of two travelling waves. One part is a sine wave which oscillates with the average frequency f = (f1 + f2). This is the frequency which is perceived by a listener. The other part is a cosine wave which oscillates with the difference frequency f = (f1 - f2). This term controls the amplitude "envelope" of the wave and causes the perception of "beats". The beat frequency is actually twice the difference frequency, fbeat = (f1 - f2). When two waves are travelling in the same medium, they travel with the same speed. The resulting superposition sum wave travels in the same direction and with the same speed as the two component waves, but its local amplitude depends on whether the two individual waves have the same or opposite phase. The "beat" wave oscillates with the average frequency, and its amplitude envelope varies according to the difference frequency.

 Prepared by:
Alpasan, Reycelle Alba, Ana Karla